Fix Our Forests Act

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Nov 12, 2024

The Fix Our Forests Act establishes a framework for federal forest management focused on wildfire reduction. It designates high-risk firesheds as management areas and creates an interagency Fireshed Center to assess fire risk and maintain a public registry of fireshed data. The bill expedites environmental review processes for certain forest management projects by streamlining National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures, exempting some activities from NEPA review, establishing expedited interagency review teams, and limiting consultation requirements under species protection and historic preservation laws. It also restricts litigation related to fireshed management projects and the remedies courts may award, while authorizing funding and activities for wildfire risk reduction, forest restoration, biochar projects, and wildfire technology development.

AI summaries currently cover bills with verified final-passage votes.

Fix Our Forests Act This bill establishes requirements for managing forests on federal land, including requirements concerning reducing wildfire threats, expediting the review of certain forest management projects, and implementing forest management projects and other activities. Specifically, the bill (1) designates certain firesheds at high risk for wildfires as fireshed management areas; (2) directs the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey to jointly establish an interagency Fireshed Center that is responsible for duties related to assessing and predicting fire, including maintaining a fireshed registry on a publicly accessible website that provides interactive geospatial data on individual firesheds; and (3) makes other requirements related to reducing wildfire. Next, the bill expedites the review of certain forest management projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and exempts certain activities from NEPA review. It also establishes intra-agency strike teams to accelerate the review and any interagency consultation processes under NEPA, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the National Historic Preservation Act. It also limits consultation requirements concerning threatened and endangered species under the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 and the Federal Land Management and Policy Act of 1976. Finally, it limits litigation involving fireshed management projects and limits remedies that courts may provide. Additionally, the bill supports reducing community wildfire risks, carrying out forest restoration and stewardship activities, conducting biochar demonstration projects, and advancing technologies to address forest wildfires.